It's a Wonderful Strife
by ciptochat
Summary: morty's bored one day and feels dejected


OH MAN THIS IS SHIT BUT HERE WE GO

tw's for food and alcohol? ye

* * *

Morty gently pressed his other half of his sandwich down on placed it on a shining white plate and took his lunch to the living room and sat down on the couch. His dad was sitting in the recliner beside him, on the edge of his seat, arms resting across his legs. Ever since Rick hooked the TV up to receive channels from other universes, Jerry had been absolutely engrossed in watching the television.

Morty took a bite of his food and idly watched the TV. Something about a trunk people marriage bill. Dad had been upset about the trunk people marriage debate since he heard about it and has been watching it closely since.

"Where's Mom?"

"At the hospital."

"And Summer?"

"Ssh—Ah, in her room."

Jerry scooted closer to the edge of the chair and leaned way forward.

Morty looked back down at his sandwich, then back at his dad.

"I'm gonna go find Rick."

Jerry didn't even seem to notice.

Morty got up from his seat and set his plate down in the kitchen and went out to the garage, shutting the door behind him.

Rick sat his desk, some sort of new invention in front of him which he seemed to be making a few final tweaks on before it was complete.

"H-hey, Rick," Morty ventured.

"Not now," Rick waved, spinning the new device around to study the other side.

"It's just, I thought maybe we could, you know, go on another adventure… maybe?" Morty's voice was starting to fail him and the further he got into his sentence the more unsure he felt.

Rick spun around and faced his grandson and eyed him, somewhat dissatisfied.

Morty stepped around closer to Rick and stepped up on his toes to get a look at what he was working on.

"That looks—that's pretty cool, huh, Rick?"

He stepped closer. Rick spun to keep facing him.

At last he said, "Yeah, Morty it's pretty cool. It's just a rehash of my portal gun and my alternate reality goggles, but it reduces my work by half the next time we have to do universe jumping by weeding out the weird ones." Rick smiled.

"It finds alternate realities that you're in by matching your fingerprints to your alternate self."

"Cool!" Morty smiled at Rick, almost as if to prompt him.

Rick looked at him. "Do you wanna give it its first go?"

Morty smiled genuinely this time. "Uh, yeah man!" he said awkwardly.

Rick stood up and flipped the switch. A swirling green mass appeared before they both stepped in and the portal closed behind them.

However instead of taking them to some new alternate reality, nothing seemed to change at all. They were in the same old garage as before, littered with machine parts and lab equipment. Rick looked at his gun.

"M-maybe we should try looking around the house?" Morty said walking for the door.

He turned the handle and they both stepped into the kitchen. The same green paint was on the walls as before, the same wood flooring, the same seating, the same decor. It was almost like nothing changed at all.

Confusedly, the two stepped into the dining room. This time, however something was different. The dining table was much smaller, seating only about four people. Morty was wary.

Quietly, he walked to the display against the wall where his family kept all their knickknacks and photos of relatives. Morty closely studied every single photo, picking some up only to set them back down. Something wasn't right. Finally he looked back at Rick who was watching somewhat concerned.

"I think this is a reality where I was never born, Rick."

Rick stepped up beside his grandson and studied the photos just the same.

Suddenly a burst of laughter came from the living room, distinctly Summer's and likely her friends.

Morty started to walk to the living room before Rick grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

"They don't know we're here so keep hidden."

The two cautiously looked out into the living room.

Summer and several other teens were sitting all across the room, some even on the floor since there wasn't enough seating to fit them.

"I've never seen her with so many friends over," Morty whispered, looking up at Rick worriedly.

"Yeah, well who knows. Maybe this is also a universe where Summer is popular. Just because one thing is changed doesn't mean other things can't change too."

Another burst of laughter and excitement filled the room. They were talking about something, but Morty couldn't make out what.

"Maybe we should go find my parents… j-just to make sure?"

Next the two were walking through the entryway. A shining dark car parked in the driveway and Jerry stepped out in a nice suit, talking happily on his phone.

"Wow, Mor-_eUGH_-ty, it looks like your dad actually has a job for once."

Morty shot a glare at Rick before looking back out the window to see his dad smiling and successful. His whole self seemed to start to collapse inwardly on itself.

As Jerry entered the garage, Rick and Morty quietly hurried up the stairs to the second floor. The door to his parents' room was cracked open. Inside, Morty could hear his mom talking.

"Yeah and we closed him up, and he woke up later smiling and talking with his family. It was really incredible."

Mom? A surgeon? On people?

Her voice came back again.

"Oh, okay, I'll see you downstairs," she said excitedly.

Morty's eyes widened and his heart seemed to jump into his throat. Hurriedly, Rick pulled Morty back into Summer's room before his daughter could see them and shut the door.

The two stood waiting, Morty's heart pounding in his chest with tensed muscles. As soon as he heard his mom walk down the stairs he exhaled quickly and drew in another breath of air sharply.

"Oh my God, Rick! Look at them!"

Morty bit his lip. His eyes started to water.

"L-l-look at how happy they are! And they're—and they're… Summer has friends and Mom and Dad. Oh my God."

Morty buried his face in his hands and slowly sank to the floor. His shoulders shook as if he were crying but he hardly made a sound.

Rick looked around awkwardly as if not really sure what to do.

While Morty sat on the ground, knees pulled to his chest crying, Rick stepped around his granddaughter's room. He walked to the window and looked out across the yard.

Suddenly something caught his eye. A stumbling man in a white lab coat was walking across the yard, spilling the contents of a dark-colored bottle all over the yard and dragging something mechanical behind him.

"M-Morty."

He turned around and faced his grandson.

Morty looked up at him, eyes wet and face pink and mouth trembling.

"Come here," Rick whispered coaxingly.

Morty untangled himself and stood up to the window.

The old man, alternate Rick apparently, lurched forward to the fence and slid down the yard, dropping the machinery behind him.

"What is he doing?" Morty asked, his voice shaking.

Rick shushed him and made more room for Morty to see.

The other man took a large gulp from his bottle and propped up the thing that he had been dragging behind him.

The thing seemed to have a torso and two arms and two legs, with a big round head and glowing red eyes.

Alternate Rick pulled a piece of paper of his pocket and drunkenly tried to compare the paper to the robot. He could hardly keep his head up.

"H-hey Rick, I've seen you so… before," Morty said, voice still weak.

"Maybe I'm just a light-weight in this universe, Morty," Rick said downing a gulp from his flask.

"Y-y-you look really distraught," Morty observed.

Rick turned his attention back to his alternate self. Heavy bags pulled down at his alternate's eyes and he seemed even thinner than Rick was normally. His white lab coat on closer inspection was stained and torn.

Morty's mouth started to tremble and he looked back up at Rick.

Rick waved his hand downward, "S-see Morty? N-not everyone is, is… without you, some are…." Rick didn't seem to know how to say it.

Morty furrowed his brows. "You think so?"

"Yeah," Rick nodded. "Are you ready to go home?"

Morty smiled uneasily. "Yeah."

The next thing he knew, the green mass had appeared again and they had stepped back into their original reality.

Summer sat staring at homework on her bed. She looked up half-startled.

"Hey, just passing—passing through," Rick said pushing Morty along in front of him. "Just gonna—gonna leave now."


End file.
